Radford's Mary Draper Ingles statue unveiled

RADFORD (WSLS 10) - Radford tourism leaders are remembering a part of their history.

The Radford Tourism Advisory Commission unveiled an 8-foot bronze statue depicting Mary Draper Ingles which sits in front of the New River.

Ingles was captured during the French and Indian War, but managed to escape and traveled along the New River to get back to home near the Duck Pond on Virginia Tech's campus.

She later made Radford her home.

"We tried to be very thoughtful about the placement of the statue. We actually identified several areas in the city that made sense and we wanted her by the river. We obviously wanted her by the visitor's center as well, so people can come here and learn more about the story," explained  Deb Cooney, the city's tourism director.

Tourism leaders said, it took about eight years to raise the $75,000 needed to make the statue a reality.